Mawali Wreck

The wreck lies completely on its side, with the shallow end of the structure at about 15 m and the deepest part at 30 m, so the dive is usually run deep first along the lower flank and shallow at the end. Sixty metres of hull gives plenty to follow in one direction and come back along in the other, and on a strait where most dives are a search across open sand, the fixed line of the ship is unusually easy navigation.

The plating is fully reclaimed rather than bare steel: crinoids, black coral trees and soft corals cover it, which is what makes it worth the depth. Enormous scorpionfish sit still against that growth and take finding, lionfish hold in the lee of the structure, and spotted barramundis use the shadowed sections. The wreck is the subject as much as anything on it, so the growth and the angles of the collapsed side are what most people come back with.

Depth is the limiting factor. At 30 m no-decompression time is short and there is no shallow reef nearby to drift off onto, so the profile is planned around leaving the lower flank early. Come up the structure to its shallow end for the last part of the dive rather than swimming off the wreck into open water.